An overview of Melbourne

First, we all love the city.  Drivers are sane (no speeding, no switching lanes unless necessary) and everyone is polite.  Additionally, the city has beautiful art, wonderful parks, walkways, and places just to hang out.

An American’s and an Australian’s perspective on art:  we were in a taxi and there was a decorative stripping of metal in arches over the roadway.  I asked the driver, “What is the purpose of that metal work?”  His reply: “oh, it’s art.”  I was embarrassed and saddened for me and my country where everything must have a purpose, outside of just being beautiful.

This post is meant to give you an overview of the splendors of Melbourne.

The area surrounding the Yarra River is beautiful, with beautiful art sculptures everywhere (just as in Sydney), WIDE promenades, the river itself, multiple venues (hundreds?) for sitting to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and watch the people, entertainment venues, multiple walking bridges over the river, free trams all through the major portion of town, and in the evening wonderfully decorative lighting.

Garbage collection on the Yarra River

We decided to follow the pathway of the Golden Path Walking Tour in Melbourne.  We thought we would go to the Visitors’ Center, buy the book, and follow the walking path.  Well, the book is no longer in existence, so we had to download an app onto my phone and then download the “book.”  The download took about ½ hour, and once on the phone, the tour was extremely hard to follow: the numbers didn’t correlate with the numbers on the map, the names of the buildings were “cutesy” titles instead of the real names, so it was difficult to find the information.  Overall, just not well done (but with potential).  We decided to take a break from frustration and go to lunch (delicious – another top restaurant from Gil’s Condé Nast list), read over the materials and try again.  After lunch, the walking tour improved and we were able to see and learn about many of the buildings.

Of particular interest was the Rialto Building (now Intercontinental Hotel) which preserved the old male urinals from the 1850s on one section of the building.  Inside was beautiful -- inside the hotel, not the urinals ;-).

We also wandered through the Block Building which has retained its previous grandeur and is now upscale shops and boutiques.  Fun wanderings (no, we didn’t buy anything).

One of the delights was going to the top of a graceful architecturally designed building – the Skydeck on the 88th floor is the highest observation point in the Southern Hemisphere.  We got a sense of the layout of the city with the rivers, the trains, the ocean, the buildings, the sports arenas, and the various areas of the city.

the Sky Tower

 The tall whitish building is where our apartment is located

Sent postcards to the grandkids from this post office

Federation Square was visible from the Skydeck, and one could see the excellence of the design of a modern cultural center set on top of the train station.

We split up for dinner, with Gil/Deborah heading to a great seafood restaurant and Julie/Harold eating quick stuff so they could get back to the apartment to pack.

Deborah/Gil are staying in Melbourne for a couple more days, while Julie/Harold are flying to Uluru (Ayres Rock) for a couple of days (see separate posting).

During Deborah/Gil's extra days in Melbourne, they rested and ate well :-), and they also visited other Melbourne locales, including the Queen Victoria Market (a combination of very large open air market and flea market) dating back to 1878 and the really interesting Old Gaol (the only surviving jail from Queen Victoria's time).  

In its 140 years of existence, Queen Victoria's Market has been a cemetery, a livestock market, a wholesale fruit and vegetable market. . . .  It has expanded tremendously beyond those functions, however, and each of the functions seemed to have controversy associated with it.

The Old Gaol is the only surviving jail from Queen Victoria's time.  Unfortunately, it had its beginning around 1842 with the hangings of Tasmanian Palawa men who had been convicted of committing acts of violence against the colonizers.  Their deaths were meant to be a deterrent to the local Koori people.  And so began its gruesome history, including the recent convictions of criminals Deborah and Gil Castle.  ;-)

Yes, they definitely should have gone with us to Uluru!